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User blog:BattleGames1/BattleGames1's Season of War Episode 2 - Sun Tzu vs William the Conqueror
Last time on the Season of War, we saw WWII's most legendary squadrons battle it out to see which one is the deadlier war company and it turned out that the Americans had pulled off a very tight win over the British Desert Rats. In this match-up, we now find two of the world's most famous generals in history duking it out for tactical supremacy. Sun Tzu, the author of the Art of War and a great strategic warlord... vs William the Conqueror, the Norman general who reshaped the face of England and then (indirectly) the world... WHO... IS... DEADLIEST? =Let's Meet the Warriors= Sun Tzu Sun Tzu (born Sun Wu), was an ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher who is traditionally believed to be the author of The Art Of War, an influential and ancient chinese book on military strategy. It is generally agreed that he was born and lived during the Spring and Autumn Period of ancient Chinese history and served under king Helu as his primary strategist. In his tenure with the king, Sun Tzu as a commander, won a string of victories for the Wu Kingdom - the tactics Sun Tzu used in his victorious battles during that period were later written into his military treatise The Art of War. It is unknown what Sun Tzu's activities were between the end of the Spring and Autumn Period and his death in 496 BCE or even of Sun Tzu's activity during the period apart from a historiographical account of him in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. William the Conqueror Born initially with the title the Bastard, William was born in 1028 to Robert I, the Duke of Normandy at the time, out of wedlock (and legitimacy) and ascended to the dukedom at the age of 7 amid royal/political anarchy. In his youth he was under the tutelage of many guardians including King Henry I of France. From 1046 (the time when Henry and William were hotly challenged for the throne by Norman nobles) until 1060 (when William married Matilda of Flanders and consolidated his power over the duchy), William saw continuous civil war among his people. It wasn't until 1066, when he, Harald Hardrada (king of Norway at the time) and Tostig Godwinson (Harold I's exiled brother) conducted an invasion of the British Isles across three different routes that William oversaw true 'international' war taking place. After his victory at the Battle of Hastings, William established himself as King of England - quelling some revolts in 1069 in the progress of it - before living to the ripe age of 58 and dying back in his home turf on 9 September 1087. =Now, Let's Inspect the Weapons= Swords Jian The jian is a double-edged straight sword and one of China's most revered weapons (alongside the gun staff, dao sabre and qiang spear) throughout most of its history. It is known as "The Gentleman of Weapons" in Chinese folklore, maybe owing to its balanced design both in the hilt and the blade - the blade being multipurpose for slashing, stabbing, cleaving and defensive maneuvers among other techniques. During the Spring and Autumn Period, jians were made of either bronze, iron or (for the purposes of this battle) steel, had a length of about 70cm and weighed between 700 and 900 grams. Norman Sword/Proto-armingsword The sword most commonly used by Normans was not a broadsword/basket-hilted sword as DW suggested but was more like the Roman Spatha but more developed since its adoption by the Vikings. Sometime within the 10th and 11th centuries CE, the Viking version of the Spatha was developed further by blacksmiths into the earliest forms of the medieval arming sword with the hand guard becoming the cross-guard and the simplification of the pommel. Other than that, the Norman version of the Spatha retained the same characteristics of the Viking derivative - weighing at least 1.1kg and measuring out to be at best 100cm. BG1's Edge To be frank this one is almost too close to call but I have to give it to William's Norman Sword since it is that bit longer and heavier than the Jian making for a more devastating sword to wield in battle Axes Dagger-Axe-Qiang hybrid A more common weapon for Sun Tzu to have used rather than the backscratcher Zhua was the dagger-axe, an experimental type of weapon that can be considered the forerunner to the European halberd (along with the dagger-axe's relative the ji). The blade itself was made out of bronze or iron (the latter will be used for the purposes of this battle) and was attached to the end of a qiang (spear) which was about 13 feet in length and 2.5 pounds in weight allowing for seriously damaging versatile attacks such as stabbing and slashing. Dane Axe Depicted on the Bayeux Tapestry being wielded by Norman soldiers, the Dane Axe was an early form of the battle axe utilized by soldiers throughout most of northern Europe around the Scandinavian region. It consist of a wide, thin blade, with pronounced "horns" at both the toe and heel of the bit, that was about 25cm long and weighed on average 1.5kg. The haft of the axe was about a meter in length which allowed for soldiers (and some knights) at the time to use the axe as a formidable proto-polearm. BG1's Edge The Dane Axe is simply that... an axe but an impressively big one at that. The hybrid weapon used by the Chinese on the other hand was a dagger, an axe and a spear combined into a single weapon that was light enough for infantry to use both against other infantry and cavalry. For me then the edge goes to the Dagger-Axe-Qiang hybrid (or you can call it simply as the dagger-axe if you so wish). Bows Repeating Crossbow and Reflex Bow Although composite crossbows made of bronze and wood were also in use during the Spring and Autumn Period, those crossbows were either used for hunting or self-defense. The crossbows used by the Chinese military of the time would have been a composite recurve repeating crossbow that fired wooden bolts (with bronze or iron tips). The weapon can fire several crossbow bolts from its large (10-15 bolts) magazine with one pull of the trigger usually allowing anywhere from 4-5 shots before reloading. The effective range of this weapon is around 60 m, although it can be fielded at a distance of 120 m. The bolts could be dipped in poison due to the low penetrating power of the arrows (although DW has shown that with accuracy, the bolts can pierce chainmail). The recurve shape helps to give the bolt more acceleration in flight and minimises hand shock on the user. The reflex bow is a bow that has curved or curled arms which turn away from the archer throughout their length. The curves put the materials of the bow under greater stress, allowing a fairly short bow to have a high draw weight and a long draw length. This allows a bow that is half the length of a recurve or one-third the length of a longbow to fire at the same or greater velocity and stopping power. Chinese reflex bows were popular during the Spring and Autumn Period - alongside Chinese longbows and the Scythian-style horn bow - and were built to be 1.2-1.5 meters long. Composite Crossbow and Self Bow The composite crossbow used a composite bow instead of a simple wooden or steel bow like other crossbows. This allowed the crossbow to have more power in a smaller frame. The composite crossbows of William's time were relatively more powerful than other wooden crossbows of similar size, allowing smaller bows to be used with the same power. This smaller size made the composite crossbow quicker and easier to reload than other crossbows.﻿ It had a range of 100m and an archer needed to reload arrows onto the bow in about 20 or less seconds. The self bow is a bow made from a single piece of wood that was as long as the archer is high if the archer required a long draw. However, the length also meant that they are less efficient within the use of the specialized art of flight archery. When the Normans used the self bow, it was not as powerful as it was shorter than the longbow and was, perhaps, drawn only to the chest rather than to the ear. Against a knight in mail arrows from the self bow were probably effective up to a range of 915m. BG1's Edge Out of the crossbows the edge goes to the Repeating Crossbow for its high rate of fire, inclusion of a magazine with a number of bolts (meaning less reloading) and relatively longer range than the composite crossbow. However for the bows, it is Even because the reflex bow was a versatile bow - able to be used on horseback (on horse or a chariot) as well as on foot - but the self bow seems to be that bit more powerful (although not as powerful as the Welsh longbow that later succeeded it). Tactical Huo Chien/Fire Arrows The use of fire in tactical combat against an enemy is recounted in Sun Tzu's The Art of War, so it is no surprise that one of the arrow types used by Chinese soldiers during the wars within the Spring and Autumn Period and beyond was the fire arrow (not to be confused with the rocket version of the fire arrow found on hwachas, for example). This was a relatively simple weapon. The arrow head was wrapped in cloth and dipped in sesame oil, and then covered in lard and was ignited prior to firing. Torsion Catapult Also known as the onager, the torsion catapult was a widely used siege weapon of the Middle Ages due to its simplicity compared to the ballistas and scorpions of the time. The torsion catapult consisted of a large frame placed on the ground (or sometimes with wheels) with an axle running between the sides of the frame. A vertical arm is attached to the axle, with torsion springs around its base. The arm typically had a bowl-shaped bucket on the end. It had a range of 100-150 yards and you can fire almost anything with it - rocks, dead animals, etc. BG1's Edge With the power and range that comes with the torsion catapult despite its stationary status and the fire arrows relatively lower direct killing potential, this one is also too close to call. However I must give a narrow (like 0.0001%) edge to the Fire Arrows mainly because with them, you can actually take the torsion catapult out of the battle since it is made of wood too. Armour Leather and Bronze Lamellar, Silk undershirt, Bronze Helmet and Bronze Shield The kind of armour used by Sun Tzu's time would have been lamellar made of hundreds of small overlapping bronze and/or leather plates laced together to make a flexible and light coat of armour. Lamellar armour always offered protection against slashes and blunt force trauma. Many Chinese soldiers also wore a silk shirt under their armour. If an arrow pierced the armour it would drag the silk shirt into the wound without tearing it. By gently pulling on the shirt, the arrow could be extracted cleanly. Shoulder guards and helmets were often used, but leather caps seem to have been more common for ground infantry. However for this battle, the ground soldiers will be wearing lightweight and durable helmets made of bronze in the shape of the one seen in the photo. Also of note, charioteers (yes there will be horses in this battle) were protected by leather, and sometimes came with a canopy to protect the crew from the weather, but this was probably removed before going into battle. Chariot horses were protected by a blanket made of animal skins, with tiger skin being most popular, though sometimes horses wore lamellar peytral made of leather, which protected the horses' chests and necks. Shields were either made of wood or bronze and was fitted with leather and cupreous decorations at the centre. Some were equipped with blades turning defensive armour into an offensive weapon during close order combat. Chainmail Hauberk, Steel Nasal Helmet and Kite Shield The usual form of body armour used by the Normans (especially the horsemen since infantry wore little to no armour) was a knee-length mail shirt called a hauberk that had three-quarter-length sleeves and was split from hem to fork to facilitate riding. Although usually constructed of mail the hauberk does occasionally seem to have been made of overlapping scales of some stiff material such as cow horn. But such scale armour never seriously challenged the supremacy of mail formed of interlinked, riveted rings that could be made very strong and, because of its pliability, still gave the soldier complete freedom of movement. However despite its freedom of movement, it was very heavy and taxing on the soldier - even a soldier trained to bear armour since childhood would have difficulty. As additional protection for his head the Norman soldier wore a steel helm, usually of conical form. Most had wide nasals to protect the nose. These helms were apparently made either in one piece or in several segments riveted together and sometimes, it seems, attached to a supporting framework of steel bands. A kite shield was a distinct type of shield from the 10th–12th centuries. It was either a reverse teardrop shape or later on, flat-topped. The tapering point extended down to either a distinct or rounded point. BG1's Edge For the sake of it, I will have to give the edge to the Chainmail Hauberk, Steel Nasal Helmet and Kite Shield due to the better metallurgy behind them (and the size of the Kite Shield) - although this doesn't make the warrior completely impervious to damage inflicted by Sun Tzu and his men plus the effects of the environment (which could potentially lead to fatigue). =Sorry, no X-Factors this time. So let's move onto the battle then...= Battle No Battle Written Unfortunately Expert's Opinion Sun Tzu's losing streak continues here as William's weapons and armour proved to be far superior to most of the Chinese general's arsenal such as the Composite Crossbow which offered William's men greater range than the Chu-Ko-Nu; add to that William's greater experience as a combat-oriented general and the Conqueror claims easy victory. If you think this battle is unfair in any way, shape or form, you can go ahead and do a rematch if you wish. Notes *Voting is open until I finish writing the battle sim for Easy Company vs LRDG which will hopefully be next week (latest time, next Saturday) *After reading up on some information, Sun Tzu and his men will ride into battle in three war chariots (which could carry 5 soldiers at a time not counting the driver - a couple of them would be holding the reflex bow and crossbows and another holding the dagger-axe-qiang hybrid polearm); conversely, William will have with him (in addition to Norman infantry and archers) 2 horsemen with he himself on horseback too. *The battlefield is similar to the one in my previous battle except the location is somewhere in the plains of Central Asia and the town has become a village with a mix of wooden and clay infrastructure - allowing for a mix of open-field combat as well as close-quarters Category:Blog posts